


Shattered Chance

by LigerCat



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Background Relationships, Chance Meetings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Family, Friendship, Future Fic, Gen, Guilt, Moving On, Post-Break Up, Pregnancy, Rare Pairings, Regret, Second Chances, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22330678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LigerCat/pseuds/LigerCat
Summary: It's been ten years since Isabella last saw Phineas, and she still loves him with all her heart.
Relationships: Past Phineas Flynn/Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, Phineas Flynn & Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, Phineas Flynn/Mishti Patel
Kudos: 16





	Shattered Chance

**Author's Note:**

> Don't own.

Isabella's heart skipped a beat.

Even from a distance, he was unmistakable.

She started moving before she fully thought it out. It had been ten years since she'd talk to him. She could still remember their last, awkward conversation at Ferb's wedding, a year after the breakup, like it was yesterday.

Sometimes she wondered if the relationship was doomed from the start. Phineas naturally wanted to give, and she'd been thrilled to take.

It had taken her too long to realize he was giving more than he had.

He was standing outside one of the stores in the mall. There weren't many people around but there were enough that she could turn back and disappear without being noticed.

Phineas glanced in her direction. "Isabella?"

She froze for a second before mustering up a smile and continuing. So much for running away. "Hey, Phineas."

His smile looked a lot more genuine as he crossed the rest of the distance and embraced her. The hug was tight, and she found herself melting into it.

For years she wondered what would happen if they met again. She'd daydreamed about having another chance to make it up to him. Now that she was older, she understood just much childishly she'd treated their relationship. They might have been in college, but they'd still been kids.

Phineas pulled back, keeping his hands on her shoulders. He was so close. It would be nice to close the gap and kiss him again. To feel those soft lips on her, to taste them, her hands tangled in his hair...

She clamped down on the urge.

"You don't know how happy I am to see you." His smile grew more sentimental. "I wanted to call you, but you changed your number and nobody had it, except Ginger and she said Gretchen said not to give it to me."

Isabella internally winced. She'd forgotten about that.

"After that, I kinda gave up." Phineas' smile fell as he removed his hands, she almost asked him to put them back. "You're not still mad, are you?"

And didn't that feel like a punch. She'd been upset. Being with Phineas had been, still was, her dream, but she'd never been mad at him. Okay, she'd been mad at first, but after a week, the only person she'd been mad at was herself for being so oblivious to his needs.

"I'm not mad, Phineas."

"Oh, good." His posture grew more relaxed, his shoulders falling back into a slouch, and his easy smile coming back full bloom. It still shined as bright as the sun for her.

God, she'd missed him.

She took a chance: "Maybe we could catch up? Have dinner sometime?"

"Yeah, that sounds really great."

Isabella had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming in hope. This was it she was getting her second chance.

"Phineas?" The accented woman's voice came from the entrance of the store he'd been waiting by.

Somehow, Phineas brightened even more at the sound of it. "Oh! You have to meet someone."

There was no time for her to protest before Phineas had taken her hand--it still fit so perfectly with hers--and pulled her over to the Indian woman.

She held numinous bags and was watching Phineas with a bemused smile.

And looked about five months pregnant.

Isabella's heart started to sink before she fought against it. It was probably just a friend of his.

"You remember Isabella?" Phineas had dropped her hand to grab some of the bags.

The woman nodded. "Yes, I remember her." She raised one arm, showing the bags she was still holding. "I would shake your hand, but my hands are full at the moment."

There was something familiar about the woman, and they'd apparently met.

Phineas finished the introduction just as it started to click. "Isabella, you remember Mishti. Baljeet's friend?"

"Oh, yeah, the boat ride." The boat ride that she'd thought was for her and Phineas. She calmed down, this was obviously just Phineas helping out a friend.

"Yeah." He and Mishti exchanged a look. "We ran into each other at one of Baljeet's lectures a few years back."

"Almost seven."

Phineas frowned. "It's been that long?" Laughing a little, his smile came back. "Well, we did prove time flies when you're having fun."

Isabella's theory started to crack.

"We were not together all that time," Mishti said. "Actually, it was several months before we got together. Baljeet will not admit it, but I think our dating took some of the strain off his relationship with Ginger."

Isabella's smile froze. The theory crumbled to ash and was blown away by the air conditioner.

"You're dating?" The words barely made it past her lips.

Mishti laughed. "Oh, no, we're married." She gestured to her swollen belly. "My parents would murder him if we weren't."

"Four years," he added. "That I can get right."

"Four years." If someone had opened up the floor under her, she didn't think she could feel more off balance. She must have looked as faint as she felt because Phineas dropped the bags he was holding and grabbed her arm.

"Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?" He stared at her with wide, worried eyes.

She wanted to cry. All her dreams had been crushed in an instant.

She'd screwed up and never even considered that he might find someone else. Someone better than her.

"Hey, hey," Phineas soothed, pulling her to him. His hand rubbed circles on her back. "I'm sorry, I don't-I don't know what I said, but I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

She shook her head against his chest. "It's not your fault." It was hers. She waited years thinking they'd reconnect. If she hadn't driven a wedge between them, making sure she heard nothing about his life and that he couldn't contact her, she could have fixed things or at least known.

She could have still had her best friend even if he was with someone else.

Phineas was talking, but the words didn't register. His arm wrapped around her shoulders, and he led her somewhere. Her eyes were too blurred with tears to see where they were going until he pushed her down to sit on a bench.

He sat next to her, keeping his arm around her. "I don't have a handkerchief. Sorry. Ferb always carried them saying you never knew when you might need one to give a girl, though I think he used them more than he gave them to girls to use, but I might be wrong, anyway I never really got into the habit."

Through her sadness, she laughed a bit.

"I think I should know why you're upset, but I don't. You wanted to catch up and I thought that's what we were doing. Except it wasn't over din--oh." There was a pause. " _Oh_."

"Yeah."

"I didn't know you still--"

"Yeah."

Phineas was silent.

"It's stupid. I should--" She sniffled. "I should have gotten over it--you by now." She wiped at her eyes with her sleeves.

"No. I get it," he said, slowly. "I mean, I think I still have some feelings for you. I wanted a second chance, but then I ran into Mishti and we became friends. And then more then friends. It wasn't planned or anything. It just happened."

Hearing that hurt more than she thought it would. "You love her."

"I really do."

Taking a deep breath, she looked at him. "I'm happy for you."

He stared back a moment before shaking his head. "Don't lie."

"I'm not. God, I wish it was you and me instead, but if you love her, I'm happy for you." She smiled. "You're going to be a dad. That's just... amazing."

Phineas ducked his head, pink tinting his cheeks. "Heh, yeah. But you're okay? With this?"

"I'm okay with it." It would take a while, but she'd come to terms. "Don't you need to get back to your wife?"

"Oh, right." Taking his arm from around her, he went to stand up before hesitating. "We should still have dinner. You could come over?"

The offer was more than she felt she deserved after everything.

"I'd like that."


End file.
